Gerretz notified officials of the potential threat and portions of the building were evacuated. A bomb squad from the Tampa Police Department checked everything out and determined the device was a toy.

Once Sheriff Bob Gualtieri sent an agency wide all-clear message, Deputy James Piper, 59, told his supervisor he’d sent the package to Gerretz as a joke.

Piper, who had been with the sheriff’s office for 33 years, promptly resigned.

He was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with planting of hoax bomb, a second-degree felony.